Two males accused of racing on a public freeway in western Pennsylvania final 12 months had been ordered to face trial on fees in a crash involving a faculty van that left a teenage lady useless.
Allegheny County police stated a Serra Catholic Top Faculty van was once seeking to make a left flip Sept. 20 in Dravosburg when it was once struck through a northbound sedan. Fifteen-year-old Samantha Lee Kalkbrenner died on the scene and 3 different scholars and two adults had been additionally injured. Prosecutors allege that two males, who labored on the identical position within reach, had been racing and the primary automotive is assumed to had been touring greater than 100 mph simply ahead of the crash.
Allegheny County District Pass judgement on Kate Lovelace on Friday upheld all 15 counts towards 43-year-old William Soliday II of North Huntingdon, together with murder and recklessly endangering someone else in addition to unlawful racing and reckless using. He wept in the back of the court docket partition ahead of he was once taken again to prison, the place he has been held with out bail.
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Lovelace pushed aside the one criminal rate towards the opposite guy, 37-year-old Andrew Voigt of Penn Hills, in addition to a rate of failing to forestall and render support, however held for courtroom different fees together with 5 misdemeanor counts of reckless endangering.
Two males accused of drag racing on a Pennsylvania freeway will stand trial for a collision that left a 15-year-old lady useless. (FOX Information)
Right through the three 1/2-hour listening to, prosecutors known as 3 different drivers who stated they noticed the boys dashing, and prosecutors additionally performed movies appearing the crash, together with one from a dashboard digicam.
Protection lawyers for the 2 males rejected the allegation that their purchasers had been racing. Voigt’s lawyers argued that he wasn’t excited by both a race nor the crash. Legal professional David Shrager, representing Voigt, stated “as a result of two issues came about on the identical time doesn’t imply one led to the opposite.”
Soliday’s legal professional, Casey White, additionally stated there was once no proof of a race however recommended that Voigt will have been chasing his shopper. He argued unsuccessfully for dismissal of the murder rate, which he stated required intent or malice.
“He implemented the brakes. He attempted to forestall the twist of fate,” White stated. “This was once an unlucky, terrible, tragic twist of fate.”
Deputy District Legal professional Brian Catanzarite argued that intent wasn’t required, and with the velocity he was once using the defendant “consciously dismissed” the “prime possibility of demise or severe harm” others confronted.
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“You don’t force at the ones speeds and no longer assume there’s no longer a possibility for other folks,” Catanzarite stated.
